Le Weekend

My supervisor bought a bunch of different foods for everyone to at lunch on Friday. It was a little bit of a good-bye party for two of the workers. Also got out a little early! Ended up going out to eat at a Thai restaurant near the Place d'Italie stop, in the 13th Arr. Afterwards went out to a bar with some girl friends as the first night of celebrating on of the girls' 21st birthday. 

The next morning I went to the Porte de Vanves flea market, which had an incredibly long stretch of stands selling a wide variety of things, from designer shoes, to vintage postcards, to furniture, to prints. 

 After getting lunch me and a few girls headed over to the 5th Arr. for a tour inspired by movie scenes set in Paris! It was such a fun and different way to get to know the city!

Stopped by Place de la Concorde for a picture in front of the fountain. 

Line of students waiting to get let into la bibliotheque Saint-Genvieve. They only let a certain mount of students in, so they have a one in, one out policy.

A VERY pricey menu.. 98 EUR for lunch... 

Tea menu at jardin du palais-royal

having some fun with a box of costumes after the tour

Later that evening after celebrating the girl's more officially over dinner, we went out to a club on the Seine for some dancing! 

As for Sunday, I didn't get around to too much since just about everything was closed. I stopped by the store to pick up some birthday gifts for my mom and sister, and then got some bread and macarons from a local bakery to bring to work tomorrow. 

Gigantic macarons!

Le Book + Shopping

I started my internship at the Le Book on monday! So far I have been researching fashion and beauty campaigns to put on their website. You can check out the website here: http://www.lebook.com/ (you can go under "La Creative" to see some of the things I've put up!) One thing I love is that the office gets tons of magazines sent to them for free from all over the world and once they're done looking through them, they are up for grabs! Here are a couple pictures I took on the first day (hope to get some better ones later!):

Today was a national catholic holiday in France, Ascension Day. Most things are closed, except for big shopping malls and restaurants in more touristy neighborhoods. My friends and I went to Beaugrenelle, a nice shopping mall near the eiffel tower. They had a few stores that we were all familiar with like H&M, Zara, and Sephora, but Promod, La Maison du Monde, and Maje were new to us. 

And then afterward we walked for a few blocks, in the direction of the BU Paris center, also located in the 15th Arr., and grabbed food and drinks. 

Jardin du Luxembourg

Yesterday, some friends and I decided to check out the Luxemburg Gardens. Since most stores are closed on Sunday, it was a great opportunity to go exploring outside. We walked around the streets a little bit and passed a long string of stands selling things from candy to soap to jewelry to cheese! We grabbed a quick bite to eat then walked some more around the neighborhood, which is home to the Sorbonne. 

Just before we entered the gates of the gardens, we all picked up some ice cream! I got a scoop and of pistachio and a scoop of rose. The weather was perfect for enjoying our cold sweets and walking around the gardens. (Was a bit surprised by the palm trees!)

Musée du Vin

Today we took a group trip to the museum of wine (Musée du Vin). We split into two groups and a wine specialist talked each group through the smells, tastes, and appearance of 5 different wines.

Les Archives Nationales

Today was the last day of our intensive week of classes. We will only have class once a week from now on and, believe it or not, our midterm exam is next tuesday!

For today's outing we went to the French National Archives (les archives nationales), which is only open to people who take guided tours. It was incredible going through the rooms of old documents, some dating back to 625 AD! It looked like an old library, but of course it stores all different kinds of documents from declarations to treaties to an old set of playing cards!

Les Archives Nationales are located in the Marais district and were created in 1790

The Hôtel de Soubise and the Hôtel de Rohan have housed the national archives since 1808

Louis XVI's playing cards

Le musée des arts et des métiers

Tuesday afternoon my literature class took a trip to the musée des arts et des métiers, Before leaving the metro, our class located the unique stop on the 11th line that was designed in 1993 by the Belgian artist, Francois Schuiten.

 

Click HERE to see Schuiten's original illustration.

The musée des arts et des métiers displays various technological innovations that have been produced in Paris since the date it was founded, 1784.

Exhibits are set up in an old church attached to the museum

Cute little train tracks winding throughout the museum

Spot the original model of the statue of liberty.

Le Premier Jour de Classe

My french literature class started today, and I really like it! We spent a few hours reading and discussing texts by Baudelaire and Anna Gavalda, then we had an hour lunch break, where I just grabbed a sandwich nearby the BU center and sat and ate with some classmates. Then after, while the other two classes went back to their classrooms, we went out to explore the quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. 

Le Procope dates back to 1686. It is a cafe that was frequented by great figures in literature such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, and even Oscar Wilde 

This brasserie has been known to have hosted great literary and political figures such as Proust, Gide, Hemingway, and Camus

The Saint Germain Abbey, which was founded in the 6th Century by Childebert I, son of Clovis I